The road drops out of the Inishowen hills and suddenly you're looking down at the Foyle — the wide river valley, the city of Derry arranged below it, the old walls visible from three kilometres away. You didn't expect it. Most people don't. They've been so focused on the Atlantic coast that arriving at one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Ireland, on Day 12 of a two-week drive, lands with a force they weren't prepared for.
That is what fourteen days gives you. Not just more miles but more depth — the space for the trip to develop its own rhythm, to find the moments that weren't on any list you came with. This is the Best Ireland Self Drive Tours: Insider Itineraries for Every Budget guide to doing it properly, in the full two weeks it actually deserves.
Why Fourteen Days Changes the Entire Ireland Road Trip
Seven or ten days forces you to choose between the west coast and the north. Fourteen days means you don't have to. The 7-day Ireland self-drive gets you around a solid loop of the south and west — and that is genuinely worth doing. The 10-day version extends into Connemara and Mayo. But Northern Ireland — Derry, the Antrim Coast, the Giant's Causeway — keeps getting pushed off the shorter itineraries, kept for "next time," sacrificed because there simply aren't enough days.
Ireland is not a big country, but it is a slow one. The west coast roads will not be hurried. The R roads in Connemara are single-track with passing places; the Donegal coastal roads add thirty minutes to every journey that looks straightforward on a map. A fourteen-day itinerary builds in the unhurried pace the country rewards. It also means you're not driving four hours every single day to stay on schedule.
Days 1–2: Dublin and the Wicklow Mountains
Day 1 is a calibration day. Pick up the car at Dublin Airport and drive into the city. The M50, the port tunnel, the one-way systems in the city centre — it's a useful introduction to driving in Ireland before you're on any road that matters. Stay somewhere south of the Liffey and leave the car in a car park. You won't need it until morning.
Day 2: take the N11 south to Glendalough. The valley opens around the round tower — sixth century, still perfectly intact — and if you arrive before ten in the morning you'll have it almost to yourself. From Glendalough, the Military Road cuts north through the Wicklow Mountains: the highest public road in Leinster, completely empty mid-week, with views over the Glencree valley that are the first real indication of what the next two weeks will be. Allow three hours for the full loop back to Dublin before the evening.
Days 3–5: Rock of Cashel, Killarney, and Kerry's Two Great Drives
Day 3: drive southwest toward Kerry, but stop at the Rock of Cashel first. The medieval cathedral and round tower rising from a limestone outcrop above the Tipperary plain is one of the most striking things you will see in Ireland, and it sits directly on the route south. Allow ninety minutes. You'll be in Killarney by early evening, which gives you two full days for Kerry.
Day 4 is the Ring of Kerry — the N70 circuit around the Iveragh Peninsula. Drive it anticlockwise to avoid the coach traffic, which runs clockwise as standard. The high point, literally and otherwise, is Molls Gap: pull in, get out of the car, stand and look south toward the Beara Peninsula. It takes ten minutes. Do it.
Day 5 is the Dingle Peninsula. Drive the R561 out to Slea Head — the Blasket Islands sitting off the westernmost tip of Europe, the beehive huts on the hillside above the road, the light falling across the Atlantic in a way that makes you understand why people have been writing about this peninsula for a thousand years. Come back over the Conor Pass if the cloud isn't down: the road climbs to 456 metres and the view over Dingle town and the bay is worth every hairpin.
Days 6–8: The Cliffs of Moher, the Burren, and Connemara
Day 6: there is a car ferry between Killimer and Tarbert that crosses the Shannon Estuary in twenty minutes. Take it. It saves you 130 kilometres of driving around Limerick and deposits you directly into County Clare.
The Cliffs of Moher are on the west coast of Clare. Go in the morning before the tour buses arrive, or in the evening when the crowds have thinned. The cliffs run for eight kilometres at heights up to 214 metres, and the walk south from the visitor centre toward Hag's Head is as good a clifftop walk as anything on the west coast.
Day 7 is the Burren — the limestone karst plateau that covers the north of Clare. Poulnabrone dolmen, the Burren Perfumery near Caher, the coastal road through Ballyvaughan. It moves slower than the rest of the route. That is the point.
Day 8: drive north into Connemara. The Connemara self-drive guide covers this section in full — the Sky Road out from Clifden above the bay, Kylemore Abbey in its valley below the Twelve Bens, the bog road from Maam Cross to Leenane. This is where a lot of visitors decide they need to come back to Ireland.
If you're reaching this point in the planning and wondering whether to piece the route together yourself or hand the logistics to someone who knows it, Celtic Vacations build self-drive packages where the accommodation at each stop is pre-booked and the route is pre-planned. The driving is still yours — the spreadsheet isn't.
Days 9–11: Mayo, Sligo, and Donegal
Day 9: drive north out of Connemara into County Mayo. Westport is the most well-organised town on the west coast — the Mall, the octopus street plan, pubs that have been doing this well for a long time. Croagh Patrick rises 764 metres from the plain just outside town; you don't have to climb it, but driving past in the evening light is one of those small moments that stay. Achill Island is forty minutes west of Westport — the Atlantic Drive around the headland, Keem Beach tucked into its cove below the clifftop, the road narrowing to one lane for stretches along the sound.
Day 10: north through Ballina to Sligo. Drumcliff churchyard — W.B. Yeats buried under the flat face of Ben Bulben — is five minutes off the N15 and takes twenty minutes. Strandhill Beach is three kilometres from Sligo town and has some of the best surf on the Atlantic coast.
Day 11: into Donegal. Slieve League — the sea cliffs on the southwest coast of the county — are higher than the Cliffs of Moher and significantly less crowded. The one-lane road to Bunglass Point is the approach; what you see from the car park when you arrive earns everything the road asks of you. Drive the coastal road north through Ardara and Glenties in the afternoon.
Days 12–14: Northern Ireland — the Part That Makes the Two Weeks Worth It
Day 12: head north through Donegal toward Derry. The descent from the Inishowen hills into the Foyle valley — the wide river, the old walls of the city on the ridge above it — is one of the most unexpected arrivals on the whole route. Derry's city walls are the most complete in Ireland: walkable in forty-five minutes, intact after four hundred years. The Bogside murals below the west wall are the other reason to spend an afternoon here. This is a city that was underestimated for most of the twentieth century and is making up for it.
Day 13: the A2 Antrim Coast road between Larne and Ballycastle is the most scenic coastal drive in Northern Ireland and would hold its own on any comparison with the Ring of Kerry. The Glens of Antrim fall to the sea on one side; the sea itself is on the other. Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge at Ballintoy is worth the booking fee — and you do need to book in advance; it sells out. The village of Cushendun, the red sandstone cliffs at Murlough Bay, the road narrowing through the glens: this is what the extra four days buys you over the ten-day itinerary.
Day 14: the Giant's Causeway. Go at seven in the morning before the first coaches arrive and walk the coastal path north from the main site toward Hamilton's Seat. The 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns without a crowd is one of those things that fully earns its reputation. Drive south in the afternoon — two and a half hours to Dublin via the M1, with a stop at Newgrange in County Meath if you have the energy. The Neolithic passage tomb is 5,000 years old, predates Stonehenge by centuries, and takes ninety minutes to see properly. It is not a bad way to end a two-week drive.
Hiring a Car for 14 Days in Ireland
A fourteen-day hire is where the terms of your rental agreement start to matter in a way a long weekend doesn't expose. The biggest consideration on this specific itinerary is Northern Ireland. If you're taking this route — and Derry, the Antrim Coast, and the Giant's Causeway are three of the main reasons to choose two weeks over ten days — you need a rental that explicitly covers cross-border use as part of the base rate, not as a surcharge added at the desk.
With My Irish Cousin, Northern Ireland use is included as standard. No extra paperwork, no additional fee, no conversation at the pickup counter about where you're planning to drive. The rest of the booking terms apply as on every rental: no excess, no deposit, tyre and glass covered, full roadside assistance, free additional driver. On a fourteen-day trip that crosses the border twice, those are not small details.
If you're comparing rental operators before committing, the question to ask is direct: "Is Northern Ireland included in my rental at no additional cost?" Some operators will say yes until the actual paperwork arrives.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I drive from the Republic of Ireland into Northern Ireland without any special permit?
Yes — the border is open and unmanned. You drive across it without stopping, the same as crossing between any two counties in the Republic. The only thing to confirm beforehand is that your rental agreement covers cross-border use, which varies by operator. My Irish Cousin includes it as standard.
How much driving does this 14-day itinerary involve per day?
The average is roughly 90–130 kilometres per day, with a few longer transfer days: Dublin to Killarney on Day 3 is around 280km including the Cashel stop, and the final drive from Belfast to Dublin is roughly 165km. Irish roads outside the motorways average 60–70km/h, so plan on the higher end of any time estimate rather than the lower.
Is it better to do this route clockwise or anticlockwise?
Anticlockwise works well — south first (Wicklow, Kerry, Clare), then up the Atlantic coast (Connemara, Mayo, Donegal), across to Northern Ireland, and back down the east coast to Dublin. It puts the most dramatic scenery in the middle of the trip when you're most in the rhythm of driving, and it means the Ring of Kerry and Dingle are driven in the right direction to avoid coach traffic. The Best Ireland Self Drive Tours: Insider Itineraries for Every Budget covers the clockwise-versus-anticlockwise question in more detail.
What is the road like between Donegal and Derry?
The N13 from Letterkenny to Derry is a straightforward dual carriageway — the fastest road in Donegal and a relaxed drive. Coming from further west in Donegal (from Slieve League or Glencolmcille), you'll be on N56 and R roads through the county before joining the N13. Allow more time than Google Maps suggests for the Donegal section specifically.
Making the Two Weeks Count
Fourteen days in Ireland on your own schedule, your own pace, in a car you fully control — this is the trip most people spend years meaning to take. The full west coast, Northern Ireland, the Giant's Causeway, and a final morning at Newgrange: two weeks is what this country actually deserves, and what this route earns by Day 14.
For the full planning picture — accommodation strategy, how much to budget, and how the spokes of this route fit together — start with the Best Ireland Self Drive Tours: Insider Itineraries for Every Budget and come back here when you're ready to put days to the route.
